Groundhog Day
by moonsdoor
Summary: Post 5x22. They have to relive the day they died. Over and over and over again. Damon/Bonnie. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: So this is a plot bunny that's been running in my head for a while. Also, I ship them too. And I know there are many Other Side stories, but I wanted to write my own. I hope when season six starts they don't go with this idea *laughs*._ _Anyway hope you like it!_

* * *

**Groundhog Day**

**~x~**

Chapter 1: Aspirin

.

There was a party at the Grill. It was spilling out in the streets. Shouting, laughter, head-banging. Loud, raucous music. And she knew _exactly_ where Damon would be.

As Bonnie made her way through the throng of dancing people, she wondered how much longer of this non-stop partying she could take. Three weeks later and she needed a break, badly.

As she already suspected, Damon was dancing on the bar with several high school cheerleaders and the bartender herself. He was pouring a bottle of Bourbon down their throats and bras.

Bonnie slapped her forehead.

"Damon! Damon, get down from there! We need to talk!"

Damon flashed her a dazzling grin.

"Heeeey, look who joined the party! You need to come up here, Bon Bon!"

Bonnie groaned. He always called her _Bon Bon_ when he was drunk.

"Do you know half those girls are underage?" she yelled back.

"Can't hear you, Judgy!"

"It's not cool, you jerk!"

But he was already drifting away from her. He had unbuttoned his shirt and the girls had started kissing his neck. Bonnie wanted to throw up. Times like these, she really missed her powers. It wasn't fair that he got to remain a vampire in the afterlife, but she somehow was barely fizzing out any magic.

And then, someone grabbed her legs and pulled her up into the air. She screamed.

_Let's make the most of the night_

_Like we're gonna die young!_

_We're gonna die young!_

Ke$ha's voice blared out of the speakers, making her head swim. Granted, that could have also been the room spinning with her. She struggled to get down again.

"Matt?" she cried over the music. "What the hell?!"

"Come on, Bon! You heard Damon! Just let go!"

The blue-eyed boy put his hands on her waist and pulled her closer.

"Oh my God, did he compel you _too_?!"

She probably should have predicted this. Damon had gotten more and more out of hand. Since each new day was the same, he had tried mixing it up. Compel one person here, one person there and soon the whole town was singing to his tune.

"No, I'm still wearing vervain," Matt assured her, taking out his bracelet. "I just think we should show those travelers we're not gonna go down easy! Give'em hell!"

His breath smelled of bear and cheap wine.

Bonnie exhaled in relief. _Good, so it's not Damon's compelling. It's just a lot of booze.  
_

She smiled gently and pried his hands away.

"Yeah, I have to go the bathroom. See you later."

She could hear Damon chanting "Shots! Shots! Shots!" as she made her way to the back of the bar.

* * *

The bathroom mirror was smudged with lipstick, beer and...okay, she didn't want to know. She stared at her bleary reflection. She looked tired. There were dark circles under her eyes. Her hair was lackluster. Her lips were chapped. Meanwhile, Damon was having the time of his undead life. Or so it seemed.

Three weeks ago, they had woken up in Mystic Falls like nothing had ever happened, like they had not even walked into the white light together.

At first they thought it was a dream, but they soon realized it was something much more sinister.

They were back in their town, but they were reliving the last day of their lives. Mystic Falls was packed with travelers, Stefan was on The Other Side, Elena and Caroline were desperately trying to get Liv and her brother to perform a spell to bring him back and Jeremy was worried about Bonnie.

All in all, not a very fun place to be.

But the worst part was, they had to relive it over and over and over again.

It had been almost a month of the same _damn_ day.

Each morning they woke up, and Damon got the same panicky phone call from Elena about Stefan. Bonnie had to hear about Jeremy's angst. And they both had to deal with murderous travelers.

"It's groundhog day," Damon had concluded after three days of the same day.

"What's that?"

"You've never seen the movie? Come on! It's a classic! Bill Murray?"

"Your point, Damon?"

"It's a time loop. This greedy asshole has to relive the same day for eternity to pay for his shitty ways."

"So...you're saying this is punishment?"

"It sure doesn't look like paradise."

"So how does...Bill Murray get out of it?"

Damon grimaced. "Some dumb stuff about love and respect."

But that, as the Salvatore vampire quickly established, was for _sissies_.

"We're obviously stuck here for all eternity. I don't want to hear about my brother dying every goddamn time I wake up. I _know_ he's alive in the real world. I know the travelers get whipped. So I'm not gonna worry about it anymore. I'm gonna make the best of it."

And he began doing _just_ that. Compulsion, destruction, recklessness, thrill-seeking.

Meanwhile, Bonnie had to watch and despair.

The bathroom door suddenly banged open. Elena strolled in looking miserable.

"Bonnie! What is going on? Has Damon lost his _mind_?!"

Bonnie sighed. The first week, Damon had tried to stay at Elena's side, but she wasn't in the mood to have sex or be affectionate, since Stefan was dead and the whole town was fraught with danger.

"How can you think of that when your brother's on The Other Side?!" she had rightfully demanded.

So he had given up quickly.

"This isn't reality, so I'm not gonna treat it like reality," was his general philosophy.

The problem was, Bonnie had to bear the brunt of his actions.

"We have to get Stefan back! We have to save the town!" Elena yelled, taking her by the hand.

Bonnie nodded. "Uh-uh, you're right. Could you lower your voice, though? I have a splitting headache."

Elena was staring at her funny.

"Has this whole town gone insane?!"

Before Bonnie could answer, though, a sharp stake pierced through her friend's chest. Bonnie gasped. She was slowly getting used to this, but it was still really awful to see her friend die like that. The traveler stepped back and let Elena's body fall on the bathroom floor.

_She's going to be alive tomorrow anyway_, Bonnie thought grimly.

She stepped over Elena's body and pushed the traveler aside.

Back in the bar, Damon was now fighting off some travelers with some pool sticks. He laughed as he got stabbed, like it was nothing.

She really wanted to punch him in the face.

* * *

The next day, he was predictably suffering from a major hangover. He was sitting on the steps of city hall, watching the sun rise. Since the travelers had created a spell to drive out all supernatural beings, he was currently frying in the sun. His skin was peeling off in strips of bacon.

"Ugh!" Bonnie exclaimed, as she sat down some feet away. "Why don't you stay inside?"

"And miss this beauty?" he said, pointing at the sunrise.

"Has Elena called about Stefan yet?"

"Soon enough."

Bonnie took out a bottle of water and a bunch of aspirins from her purse.

"_Here_."

Damon looked down at the pills. "How did you get these? You don't have any money."

"I had them around the house," Bonnie replied, looking away.

Damon raised an eyebrow. "Did Judgy go into a drugstore and steal a bunch of aspirins for me? I feel flattered."

"Shut up."

"So, new day?" she asked, but she actually meant _new torture?_

"Yep. And I'm throwing another party."

Bonnie groaned, running a hand through her hair. "Don't you think it's time to stop already?"

"What do I have left if I stop?" he asked, taking a gulp of the water.

Bonnie rested her chin on her hand. "I'm tired of your 24/7 rave."

"That's because you are still holding back. You still think this is the real world. Just go crazy like me and you'll be _fine_."

Damon wiggled his eyebrows in that annoying way he knew she hated.

"You're only miserable because you're still acting like your judgy self. If you want, I could compel the entire football team to worship you. Enough of the Gilbert kid."

"Speaking of which," she muttered, looking down at her phone. Jeremy was calling. She had memorized the words by heart.

Damon grabbed the phone quickly and let it go on speaker.

"Bonnie? Bonnie are you there? I really need to talk to you. Look, I can't accept that you're just going to disappear. I need you in my life. I lost you once, I won't lose you again -"

Bonnie clicked the phone shut. Damon was snickering.

"Stop that! And by the way, I don't need you to compel guys for me. I can do fine on my own."

"All _you_'ve been doing is moping around. Oh, and interrupting my fun times. Like last night?"

"I wanted to tell you to stop partying so hard. It's not okay to drink scotch off the breasts of sixteen year-olds."

Damon rolled his eyes. "That's because you haven't tried it."

Bonnie gagged. "Thanks."

"Welcome, Judgy. Now I'd love to stay and chat about how boring you are, but I've got some destruction to get to."

He hopped off the stairs and walked away, waving his arm. "Thanks for the aspirin!"

He ran into the street and stopped a large-looking SUV, making it crash into one of the hardware stores.

Bonnie put a hand over her eyes.

Eternity would last a long fucking time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Groundhog Day**

**~x~**

Chapter 2: Mental

.

It was no fun seeing the infinite ways the same day could turn out. Especially when you had to have the same painful conversation with your grandmother.

For three full weeks, Bonnie had been unable to break the pattern. She was visited by her Grams, usually at the same hour, and had to bear through the same sad affair: Grams would tell her about the Other Side crumbling, Bonnie would try to convince her to pass through. Then Grams would talk about finding peace and making a sacrifice and, despite having heard these words over and over again, Bonnie still teared up like a baby every time.

But today, even as she was getting emotional, she felt she couldn't take it anymore.

"I found peace, because I made sure that you'll find yours," Grams was saying, on cue. She smiled a wry smile. "You will be fine, hon."

"I'm sorry, Grams,but fine?! _Fine_?! What does that even _mean_?" Bonnie cried out in frustration.

Her grandmother was visibly shocked.

"You can honestly say that sending me and Damon to this...time loop is fine?!"

"Sweetheart, what are you -"

"I know, Grams, okay? I _know_. And all this time, I've been trying to tell myself it was an accident, but I'm starting to think you did this on purpose and -" Bonnie closed her eyes. "You should see the things Damon does when he loses all hope."

The elderly witch stepped back.

"Bonnie, this isn't you, child -"

"No, it probably isn't and I don't _want_ to yell at you, but I just have to know – when you said I'd find my peace is this what you had in mind?!"

"I don't know what is tormenting you, but I only came to say goodbye sweetheart..."

Bonnie grimaced. "Ugh, I hate this. I – I have to go. See you tomorrow, Grams. I mean I _know_ I will."

She left Sheila behind, feeling like the biggest traitor alive. But, as Damon kept saying, this wasn't the real world.

* * *

Back at her house, she went to the fridge and took out a beer. She hadn't drunk much alcohol ever since she had gotten stuck in this inferno. Damon was "under the influence" all the damn time; at least one of them should be of sound judgment.

But today? Today she felt like chugging down a barrel.

So she sat down on her couch and thought about watching the same episode of Pretty Little Liars, or going online to read the same news and gossip that was posted on May 15, 2014.

She was about to get up to find the remote, when she noticed a figure standing in the hallway.

_Of course._

"Enzo..."

"Not to intrude, but you _do_ know the Other Side is imploding. Are you taking time off?"

She felt like throwing the beer can at him, but she had to remember she was still Bonnie Bennett.

Unlike her Grams, who appeared at regular hours each day, Enzo was kind enough to be unpredictable. To be honest, she liked that about him. He was the only changeable factor in her otherwise carbon copied existence.

Of course he fed her the same bullshit every day, but it was always entertaining to see him get angry at her apparent disregard for his plight.

"I'm taking it easy, yeah," Bonnie replied, taking a gulp of the cool beer.

"How nice for you. I don't have that luxury, what with impending doom and all."

"I hope you didn't come here just to complain," she bit back.

Enzo raised an eyebrow, strutting towards her. She had to admit, he was good looking. In an annoying, Damon-Salvatore-associated kind of way.

"Well, look who is suddenly growing an attitude. Will you be this chipper when your friend, Stefan Salvatore, disappears along with the Other Side?"

Bonnie smiled. "I sure will."

Enzo looked confused for a moment.

"Are you joking?"

"If you want, you can help yourself to a beer from the fridge," she gestured towards the kitchen.

"I...am not sure you haven't been switched with someone else."

Bonnie laughed.

"So tell me, was Damon this destructive back in the day?"

"Damon? Why? What is he planning?" he asked, his face growing taut.

"I'm not sure, but it will involve a lot of underage sex," she said, shrugging her shoulders as if she were telling him about the weather.

"Have I already died and this is all a weird dream?" he asked, looking around him in the hope that some detail would give it away.

"No, no. That's me. That's always me. The dying part I mean. And the weird dream too, I guess," Bonnie replied sourly, taking another gulp.

Enzo sat down on the couch next to her.

"Are you all right, Bonnie?"

He was staring at her all serious and there was even a little pity in his eyes.

_Okay...this isn't fun anymore. I'm supposed to be sorry for **him**._

"What's it to you? And anyway, yes, I'm fine. I've never been better. Except apparently, I'm boring."

Enzo, who was clearly out of his depth, leaned back and looked away awkwardly.

"Who said you are boring?"

"Oh, come on. You probably think so too."

The vampire rubbed his back in clear discomfort.

"Not to be rude, but I think we have a more urgent situation at hand. My time is literally running out. Once I'm back with the living, we can chat more about your...problems."

"But _why_ am I boring? For wanting to do the right thing? For trying to be a decent person?"

Enzo, by now, was freaking out.

"Maybe you should put down that beer -"

"Why don't you go and tell _Damon_ that?" she snarled.

"Wow, wow, wow...okay. Something has gone wrong here."

Bonnie chuckled. "You got that right."

He reached out and tried to grab the beer can, but she twisted around and he ended up spilling the liquid on her couch.

"Shit! Look what you did!"

"I was just trying to help – I don't think I've ever heard you curse."

"Cuz I'm _boring_, right?" Bonnie snapped.

Enzo rolled his eyes. "Not anymore."

Half his body was on top of hers and he was still holding her arm. Bonnie didn't really think much when she pulled him by the collar of his shirt and pressed her lips to his.

It was pretty terrible. She felt like she was back in seventh grade, during an awful game of 'spin the bottle'.

She expected him to pull away immediately, but instead, he stood still for several moments and then, slowly, he parted his lips and sneaked a hand around her waist.

Bonnie heard the alarm bells ringing in her head.

She jumped off the couch. Enzo, promptly, fell on the floor, cursing under his breath.

"Ugh, I don't even like you! That idiot's words are getting to me. I will _not_ be like him. I'm going to keep my sanity intact."

Enzo stared at her with an amused glint in his eye.

"I think your sanity has pretty much expired."

Bonnie glared at him. "You're not helping."

The vampire licked his lips. "And you're sending me mixed signals, love."

"Ew, Enzo. Shut it down." She grabbed her purse and walked past him right out the door.

She heard him yell "Or bring me back so we can continue!" after her.

* * *

Jeremy was tagging along as she made her way to the grocery store.

"Bonnie, wait! What are you doing? We need to talk!"

"Can we do this later, Jer? I'm hungry."

"Bon!" he yelled, grabbing her by the shoulders. "You have listen to me! When the Other Side goes, you will go with it!"

"Yeah? And what do you want me to do about it?"

He was terrified by the indifferent look in her eye.

"Fight back! You can't give up on me!"

"So, it's still me who has to do all the work," she replied, looking down at her feet. Maybe she should steal some new shoes too. She'd seen some cute boots at the mall.

"No – I, I want us to figure it out together. I know Elena and Caroline want Stefan back, but if the cost is you..."

"That's sweet, Jer. But with or without Stefan, I'm gonna kick the bucket."

"Don't say that!"

"It's better you got used to it," Bonnie said, trying hard not to look at his puppy-dog face.

"No!" he said, pulling her arm. "I'm not letting go of you!"

_Snap!_

Jeremy fell to the ground in a heap.

"That's what you get for screaming like a girl."

Damon Salvatore had just snapped his neck.

Bonnie wrinkled her nose in disgust.

"Was that _necessary_?"

"He was making too much noise! My head still hurts. Admit it, you're grateful."

Damon kicked over Jeremy's body until it was lying in the gutter. He signalled Bonnie to follow him.

"What are you up to now?"

"Oh, just some old fashioned Mystic Falls fun."

Bonnie shook her head. "Nothing with you is fun."

"Now, that's just a blatant lie and you know it. In fact, without me here, you would want to kill yourself."

"I already do, thanks a lot," she bit back.

"I wish you would be more pliant, Judgy."

"And I wish you'd slip into a coma," she muttered under her breath.

But her mouth fell open. They had arrived at their destination. The biggest parking lot in Mystic Falls was crowded with expensive cars and skimpy, bikini-clad girls – many of them from her high school – soaking wet from the hoses they were spraying each other with. Some of them were also laughing and fighting with bubble soap. Others were sliding down the cars like they were at an amusement park.

The guys were heating up the engines, pulling the brakes until steam came out of the tires. One of the quarterbacks was lying on the ground. He was fully dressed in football gear, helmet and all. He had his thumb up in the air in an "okay!" gesture. One of his classmates was going to run him over with his Jeep.

Damon grinned. "The whole sun burning me to death thing got me in the mood for something more...refreshing."

He grabbed one of the hoses and aimed it at Bonnie. "Watch out."

It was too late. Before she could get out of the way, he had unleashed the torrent of water on her. She fell into a wet puddle.

"Damon! I'm going to kill you!"

"Good luck with that."

"I mean it!"

"Come on, Judgy. I just wanted to see if witches really do melt."

She got up and kicked him in the shoulder. "Idiot!"

"I bet this is the most interesting thing to happen to you all day."

"Actually, no. I also kissed Enzo," she blurted out, her eye catching two girls who had started kissing on the hood of a car.

Damon laughed.

"What?"

"He came to pester me about the Other Side...as per usual. I got pissed."

"Wait, you're not making this up?"

She sighed. "It was...awkward."

Damon started laughing even harder. "Oh my God, I wish I'd been there! The frigid witch and my psycho friend!"

Bonnie punched him in the stomach. "Dick!"

"Is what you're not getting."

"If you keep talking -"

"So, when's the wedding?"

"How about never, since I'm not trying _that_ again," she replied moodily.

"Obviously. Enzo's a nut. You jumped the wrong guy."

"I didn't jump him!"

"Well, either way, you probably need to get laid if you're that desperate."

Bonnie pulled back her wet locks. "I'm _not_ desperate! It was an accident anyway!"

_This is what I get for telling him._

"You probably scarred poor Enzo for life."

"Can you stop?! It's bad enough I'm in a parallel universe where Damon freaking Salvatore is talking about my sex life."

"Or lack thereof."

"Because you're so happy with your compelled...partners?" she retorted, sticking her thumb out at the girls.

"Please. I don't have to compel them for _that_."

Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Like I believe you."

"You _could_ come and watch, but I don't think it's your scene, Judgy."

"And what about Elena, huh? Do you ever think of her while you're screwing half the town?"

Damon shrugged, but something in his shoulders visibly tightened. "Did you spare Jeremy's corpse a thought?"

Bonnie looked down.

"Just go to your high school girlfriends, then."

Damon held out his hand. "Come on. At least let me pull you up."

Bonnie struggled to her feet. "No thanks." She removed her jacket and rung the water out.

She caught Damon staring at her rather see-through white T-shirt. But he quickly looked away.

"Yeah. Gonna go check out the lesbians."

* * *

Pretty soon, another fight with the travelers ensued, but Damon was getting better at this, so it took a while for one of them to get a good aim at his heart.

He had compelled the bikini girls to attack the travelers with the hoses and a strange, confusing battle was taking place wherein the travelers were slipping and sliding on the pavement while Damon was trying to run them over with the cars.

Bonnie was watching from across the road. From her vantage point, it looked more like a cheesy horror movie.

One of the girls screamed as the stake went through her abdomen. It was meant for Damon, but he had pulled her up against him at the last moment.

Bonnie watched with disgust and fascination. Damon was drinking from that poor girl while also using her as human shield.

_Can he get any lower than that?_

There was an explosion as one of the cars skidded into the road.

Damon was running towards her.

"Come on, Judgy! Let's go!"

He was smirking with blood on his teeth. The travelers were running after him in a rage.

He pulled her by the elbow and dragged her with him.

"Damon – no, stop! I don't want to!"

But he left her no choice. He sped them towards the woods. Bonnie _hated_ whenever he did that. He didn't do it often, but enough to make her nauseous for days. She managed to wrench herself away and they both toppled on the leafy ground.

"Jesus, Damon!"

"Wasn't that fun?"

She spat dirt. "God! I hate you!"

"That's the spirit."

She pushed him back on the ground.

"Ugh, I can't wait for you to get staked already so I can get some sleep."

"Hey, say hi to Enzo for me."

"What?"

"He'll obviously be in your dreams."

She saw the travelers approaching the clearing in the woods. She waved at them.

"Over here, guys! He's over here!"

Damon sighed. "I get the feeling you want me dead."

Bonnie snorted. "Only all the time."

She left him to deal with the travelers by himself.

* * *

Bonnie yawned. Back in her bedroom, she was sitting on her bed looking through an old album of photos from when she was in middle school and she was cringing at the thick set of braces Grams had made her wear, when she heard a cough at the door.

She looked up. _No._

Enzo was standing there, arms folded, watching her with his most holier-than-thou face.

"The travelers killed Damon just minutes ago. I saw it all. I was by his side while he was dying. He was _laughing_."

Bonnie nodded her head. "Yeah, sounds like him."

"I'm going to die too, aren't I? You can't bring me back. You don't even seem to care." He swallowed the lump in his throat.

"You don't even care about your own death!" he spat angrily.

Bonnie shut the album with a loud snap.

"Go away."

"I thought you were better, but you're just a coward, like the rest of them."

"Yeah, well, I thought you were worse." It might have been less sharp than she'd intended, but she didn't have the energy to fight him anyway.

"At least I'm not just sitting there, waiting for it to end."

"Great. Good for you. Can you leave me alone now?"

"I certainly won't be kissing you again. And not just because Damon told me not to."

"Huh?"

"And you know what? You _are_ boring," he added spitefully.

"Go back a bit – Damon told you what?"

Enzo looked sheepish for a moment.

"His last breath. He said not to kiss you again. He said I might get judgy-ness from you, whatever that means."

Bonnie scowled. "Asshole."

Enzo frowned. "Are you calling me an asshole?"

"No, I meant Da – You know what? Get out of my house."

The vampire shook his head. "You're mental. The both of you."

She saw him walk away into nothingness, which meant the Other Side was doing its job. Still, she yelled back "He's the one who's mental!"


End file.
